Mariposa

Some Christian men and women believe that, when they insist that “men should be men” or that “America has become feminized”, they are defending Christian values. Didn’t St. Paul say that “the effeminate” will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

On the contrary: the word St. Paul uses refers to strength of character, not to mannerisms. Its translation as “effeminacy” says a lot about the way the translators thought about women. It says very little about the proper angle at which a man’s wrist should be held when he talks, the proper degree his legs should be splayed when he sits–or other such prissy, over-delicate concerns.

I know plenty of gay men who lisp when they talk, who sway when they walk, who are masters of personal grooming, who are stylish and histrionic. And plenty of these men have a degree of bravery, determination, perseverance, strength of mind, originality, pioneering spirit, creativity, and intelligence that any man or woman would do well to emulate.

Plenty of them. Not all! Being “femme” is no guarantee of virtue, and being “masc” is no guarantee of vice. But the man who gets drunk every night in front of the TV while his wife does the dishes and raises the children–this man is more soft, more feeble, more μαλακός than the flamingest flamer. And St. Paul says that he will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven.

3 Comments on “Mariposa”

I suspect that part of the reason certain fellows don’t make the choice to come out of the closet is that they don’t wish to confirm the stereotype you are mentioning. From my own experience, however, I’d say that the same-sex-attracted men who are effeminate are actually in the minority. I have also found that some of the worst persecutors of the effeminate dudes have been those of the gay element of the population who were quite virile in appearance. “Gay solidarity” is a new phenomenon–newer, I would say, than many straight men’s protectiveness of their queer friends